He is the coach and resident "old man", but Lincoln Withers jokes "it's hard to spray a kid if I'm dropping the ball and missing tackles as well".
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That's why the Woden Valley Rams player-coach turned to another pair of former Green Machine members to help him orchestrate a Canberra Raiders Cup defence.
Ken Nagas and David Atkins have been welcomed into the fold as Withers looks to spread the load ahead of a grand final rematch against the Tuggeranong Bushrangers at Greenway Oval on Saturday.
"I try to get them to do a bit of the coaching stuff, and then that leaves me to do a bit more on-field," Withers said.
"Axe runs a lot of the defence and the forwards stuff, and Kenny overlooks a lot of it too. It's good to have a couple of voices too, sometimes when you're playing and your coaching, they only hear the same voice, and it's not always best."
Withers has returned to the side after a week off to meet the ladder-leading Bushrangers in a huge chance for Woden's new generation to prove themselves.
"We lost about eight or so from the grand final team so that's a bit different but it's a good thing as well, it keeps everyone a bit fresh," Withers said.
"The new blokes want to prove themselves, we've had a few young blokes get a good opportunity. We've had a couple of injuries to our senior blokes, like Sean Maloney, we've missed him for a while.
"It's just a matter of getting our side and sticking to it for a couple for weeks to get some cohesion."
CANBERRA RAIDERS CUP ROUND SIX
Saturday: Tuggeranong Bushrangers v Woden Valley Rams at Greenway Oval. Belconnen United Sharks v Yass Magpies at O'Connor Oval. West Belconnen Warriors v Goulburn Bulldogs at Kippax Oval. All games at 3pm.
Sunday: Gungahlin Bulls v Queanbeyan Blues at Gungahlin Enclosed Oval, 3pm.